REF: Parking

Hello:

Im in Floirda 28 townhomes and each unit has only one assigned number parking spot.....in the by-laws states that you are not to take up or use no more then two parking spots per -unit and each unit is assigned only one parking spot per unit.

We have some units that have 3-4 cars which means they are taking up extra parking spots and parking into other units that have only two cars/parking.And then we have some units that have one car in the household and never parks in there assigned but instead parks into the unassigned spot next to there assigned spot and leaves there assigned spot empty all the times.

We did have a meeting two years ago...stating that any units that have 3-4 cars need to get a letter from another unit that allowing them to use there unassigned spot.

We do not have enough parking spots to assigned each 28 units to have two assigned parking spots other wise would have been done.

Please if you have any suggestings ...would help, we will be having a meeting about this within two weeeks from now!

Thank you

Steve,

Something does not compute. The assigned parking spaces have nothing to do with the By-laws. The parking spaces should be assigned when the Deed to the property is delivered. Please check your covenants first. Is each townhouse unit assigned one parking space or two parking spaces? I could not tell from your message. Do you have a remainder of parking spaces set aside for guest parking?

If the residents park their cars in vacant spaces – when the owners are not in town – that is another issue. But again, I my not understand your concern.

Steve,

I got it, I think. Even though you are assigned one parking space the By-Laws authorize the members to use two parking spaces per unit. Right? But some people -who have more than two cars - park these cars in unmarked spaces.

Are there any restrictions in your documents re the use of ‘unmarked’ parking spaces? The parking spaces are the Association property so I guess it is up to the Board or the members to decide how they are used. May be you could mark those spaces ‘guest parking only’. But again, if those people have been parking there for years, and you have only 28 units.. it may or may not cause bad blood.

Now, if they get a letter from another unit owner to allow them to park in their spot, that may be ok, I guess. We do not allow it. We have an owner with 6 cars- believe it or not - but he leases parking spaces across the street.

Steve,

Hmm.. You can always tell the people where to park.. but ‘assigning’ parking spaces per unit is much different. I would not fool around with it.
If you start 'assigning' more than one parking space per unit, you may be changing the covenants and then you may have to assign two parking spaces per each unit regardless on a number of cars they have .. because if the single car unit moves out and another unit comes in you may have to give them two parking spaces. I think, but do NOT take my word for it because I have not read your documents. But I am surprised that your by-laws are overriding the covenants.

I wonder if you could mark all the extra parking spaces as ‘something’ and the Association could lease a few to those who have 2 -3 cars. Then keep a few for guest parking. This way you’d be covered. Possible? I do not know. Again, it all depends what is in your Declaration of Covenants. See what if you can find an ARTICLE: PARKING SPACES; and also check ARTICLE: USE OF PROPERTY.

Steve, we here at my condo association have had the EXACT same problem as you! Each unit is assigned ONE space and we would be 20 spaces SHORT if everyone owned two cars. There just aren't enough spaces (reserved or guest spots) total.

We're lucky; our documents not once, but twice, state that the Board has the right to assign or change parking spaces if/when needed. So last year we took our problem to our attorney to set (legal) parking rules.

Here is what our parking rules state:
_________________________________________________________________________

RESIDENT/ OWNER PARKING:

*Each unit is assigned ONE parking space
*There will be no more than TWO vehicles, per unit allowed on the property overnight
*If any one unit has more than two vehicles, the extra vehicle(s) must be parked off-site.
*Any resident/owner with only one vehicle is required to park their vehicle in their reserved space, overnight

VISITOR PARKING:

*If your two vehicle, per unit, parking maximum has been met, the following applies:
*Residents/owners are only allowed to have their visitors park on the property (overnight) for no more than ten days within a six month period
*Visitor spaces may be reduced to non-assigned reserved spaces to ensure that residents/owners have spaces to park their two vehicles

*Failure to adhere to these parking rules may cause a vehicle to be towed--at the vehicle owner's expense

*These rules are in addition to the existing parking rules in the documents and rules of _____________________Condominium
_________________________________________________________________________

Your rules seem to already state that there are to be no more than two cars per unit. Now you have to enforce it. It's not fair to anyone if you allow people to have three or four cars. Same problem here; people claimed the others were just "guests" hence we made the ten-day within six-months rule.

We had 46 marked "reserved" spaces and 26 marked "visitor" spaces. We checked how many people had two cars then repainted 16 "visitor" spaces to read: "R/O RESERVED". That stood for resident/owner reserved. Meaning that only residents with two cars may park their second cars in those spaces; but no one could lay claim to them and they were/are not assigned to any particular unit.

We got the most squawking from the people with only one car. They were upset that they wouldn't be able to have a lot of people over. We (the Board) feel it is our duty to do everything possible to make certain that the people who PAY to live here have a place to park their second car. We are under no obligation to make accomodations for people who don't live here.

As more of our older, one-car people leave us and more people/families move in with two cars our visitor spaces will continue to disappear. I dread the day when EVERYONE has two cars; as I said, we'd still be 20 spaces short for that! But hopefully people would do their homework before buying and realize that there really is no place to park.

Is this clear as mud for you Steve? Let me know if I can give you some more info.

Hope this helps you Steve. But as I said--get ready for some backlash.

How do you know who owns which cars?.. and how do you define visitor?

Anna,

Gee wizz, if I am not mistaken I was replying to Steve's message not yours. I asked Steve last night to post his covenants and he did. I have also suggested to Steve to ‘define assigned parking’ should there be questions about it. IMO people in his community can now can park their cars in unassigned spaces. Not sure what your problem is. If you disagree with my interpretation of his covenants do so but do not accuse me of crimes I have not committed.
And, no I am not a board member nor do I have a desire be one. I find your comment rather petty.

Hello:

In our by-laws it dont state that each unit that is assign to that one parking spot must park in their designade space....perhaps the board can try and amend our by laws.

Thanks EvaM1: We plan on having a meeting in a few weeks! hopefully will get this resolved....espacially when you have homeowners that live alone and they dont part in there assigned spot and leave it open and then park in the unassigned space.

Then you have other homeowners have 3-4 cars and then take other parking spaces....hopefully we will get this resolved.

Steve,

The bylaws should be amended (don't know why Eva suggests amending the rules and CCRs when you explicitly stated the parking rules are in the bylaws!). In many cases this can be done by the board w/o a vote of the members which makes the process so much easier. Check you bylaws for the amendment procedure. I would suggest stating that each member will have one assigned parking space with their unit number painted on it and they MUST park in their assigned space. All the other spaces are up for grabs -- first come, first served. If a member is found parking in someone elses space or in an unmarked space instead of their marked space they can, and will, be fined -- state the amount of the fine. Or in place of a fine, perhaps they can be given the option to sign a statement saying they are relinquishing their right to an assigned space and instead they agree to park in an unmarked space. So they can take their chances with the "first come, first served" people!! See which they prefer.

MaryA1 Thank you for your suggestion and I really like this idea alot! I mention to the president of the association will be discuss at our meeting sometime in August!

The other issue now also is about homeowners that have morethen two cars in there household. our covenants states each unit to use of not more then two (2) auto parking spaces.

Thanks for all your suggestions will bring all to our meeting !

Steve,

IMO, unless the BOD is willing to set up a requirement that all vehicles be registered with the BOD, and designate someone to check the parking lot on a regular basis, I don't know how they could track how many vehicles from each household are being parked in the parking lot. Perhaps this is one restriction that should be eliminated from the bylaws??? IMO, if everyone is issued one marked parking space and the remainder of the spaces are "first come, first served" then (in a sense) everyone is being treated equally regardless of the number of vehicles owned.